


we still have each other

by Chucychito



Series: extra scenes revolving around Jay, Lion, and Dove [2]
Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: A Vision of Shadows: Book 5: River of Fire, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Missing Scene, One Shot, i just keep writing these one shots huh, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:48:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27814837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chucychito/pseuds/Chucychito
Summary: Lionblaze and Alderheart are worried about Jayfeather.Set during River of Fire, AVOS.
Relationships: Jayfeather & Lionblaze (Warriors)
Series: extra scenes revolving around Jay, Lion, and Dove [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2035267
Comments: 3
Kudos: 18





	we still have each other

**Author's Note:**

> Oops, I'm back with another one-shot.

Jayfeather stomps out of the medicine den with a scowl, calling some excuse about gathering more watermint over his shoulder as he leaves. Nobody says anything, but he can practically  _ feel  _ Alderheart’s exasperated gaze on his back. That’s fine. Let him feel a fraction of what Jayfeather’s been feeling these past few moons.

He hears Lionblaze’s telltale heavy footsteps approaching and lets out a hiss before his brother even has the chance to say anything. “Can I not have a  _ moment  _ to myself?”

Lionblaze, never one to take antagonization well, stops short. “Well, hello to you too,” he spits. “Pardon me for wanting to spend some time with my brother.”

Jayfeather lashes his tail and steps past him. “Go spend time with your mate and kits.”

To his irritation, Lionblaze follows. “Believe it or not, I have the capacity to care about more than one cat at a time.” His tone is still sharp; he’s clearly already not taking Jayfeather’s company well. That’s fine. Maybe he’ll get so fed up that he’ll finally leave him alone. “Where are you even going?” Lionblaze continues when Jayfeather doesn’t say anything.

Jayfeather puts extra force behind his growl. “Use your brain Lionblaze. Where do you think I’m going?” he doesn’t wait for Lionblaze to answer. “In case you haven’t noticed, there’s this sickness going around the camp. I’m getting more herbs for it so no one else has to die.” His own words make him cringe internally. He’d just unwittingly admitted, aloud,  _ unprompted,  _ that Briarlight had died from this sickness. The one  _ he’d _ given her. Which, yes, it was irrefutable—of course she’d died, there was no avoiding that at this point. But he’s been pointedly avoiding the thought since her vigil…

Thankfully, Lionblaze must not have caught the significance of the slip. Instead, he (predictably) bristles at the jab at his intelligence. “What’s wrong with you? You’re ruder than normal lately.”

“Why are you following me?” Jayfeather snaps by way of answer. They’re in the forest now. He’d expected Lionblaze to leave when they reached the camp entrance, but much to his annoyance, he’s still here. “I’m  _ busy _ .”

“I’m  _ worried  _ about you,” Lionblaze snaps. The growl in his voice is an ironic contrast to his words that Jayfeather might have pointed out if he was in a better mood. Lionblaze has never been great with heart to hearts, but then, neither has Jayfeather. That skill was best left with Hollyleaf.

The thought of his sister just worsens Jayfeather’s mood. “Well, don’t be. I can take care of myself. That’s kind of my job.”

Lionblaze sighs, but this time it sounds more weary and less angry. “Jayfeather, this is about Briarlight, isn’t it?”

Jayfeather stops so suddenly he nearly stumbles.  _ Why would you bring that up? _ He can’t even think of something to s _ ay _ —he just stands there rigidly.

Lionblaze shifts slightly closer. “You forget I know you. That’s why you’re upset, isn’t it?”

Jayfeather shakes himself forcefully and pushes on. He’s already had this spiel with Alderheart—while his apprentice’s soft words of comfort had been nice at the time, he can’t help but hate himself for breaking down in such a way. Having such a conversation twice in as many days was simply not going to happen. “Stop distracting me. Like I said, I have work to do, and you’re not helping.”

Lionblaze’s long-suffering eye roll is evident in his tone. “Come on, Jay—”

“Shut  _ up _ !” Jayfeather seethes. He certainly doesn’t  _ beg _ .

Lionblaze quickly steps in front of Jayfeather, preventing him from continuing. Jayfeather flattens his ears and jerks back, but Lionblaze is quick to speak. “I’ll be honest,” he says, temper surprisingly controlled. “Alderheart asked me to talk to you. He’s worried, too.” His tone sharpens. “And I can see why.”

Of course Alderheart had. Jayfeather turns his head away mutely.

“Now  _ you’re  _ the one wasting time,” Lionblaze points out. “Just talk to me, will you?” when Jayfeather still refuses to speak, Lionblaze deflates slightly and sits down. After a few too many heartbeats have gone by, he exhales and admits quietly, “I wish Dovewing was here.”

Well, great. This isn’t something he particularly wants to talk about either, but he supposes any topic change is a good topic change right now. Besides, he can’t just ignore Lionblaze’s confession. Neither of them had spoken of it since she’d gone…

With a sigh, Jayfeather reluctantly turns back to Lionblaze and stiffly sits beside him. “She’s with Tigerheart.” They don’t know that, really, but it had to be true. Why would both of them have gone missing at the same time if not to run away together?

Lionblaze shifts. “That doesn’t make it hurt less.”

Jayfeather doesn’t say anything, but he does lean a bit closer so his fur presses against his brother’s.

Lionblaze shakes his head sadly. “It’s like… I know it’s different, but she chose  _ him  _ over  _ us _ . And she didn’t even say anything! I can only imagine how Ivypool’s doing…”

“There’s no use wallowing about it,” Jayfeather chides softly.

“Grieving and wallowing are not the same thing,” Lionblaze counters.

“It’s all the same to me.” Jayfeather shrugs. “There’s nothing we can do about it. We just have to move on.”

“That’s your problem.” Lionblaze tips his head; Jayfeather feels his brother’s whiskers brush his shoulder. “Sometimes you have to address it to move on.”

“Are you trying to give me a lecture?”

“Are you admitting that I’m right enough  _ to _ lecture you?” Lionblaze asks cheekily.

Jayfeather rolls his eyes. “What do you want me to say?” he asks, perhaps a bit harshly. “I wish Dovewing hadn’t left? I wish I hadn’t gotten Briarlight sick? I wish Alderheart—” he breaks off, mouth twisting into a disgusted frown. He hadn’t meant to say so much. He abruptly gets to his paws. “There’s no point in wishing for things that can’t happen.”

Lionblaze gets up too. “What about Alderheart?” he asks slowly. “I didn’t know there was something up between you two.”

Jayfeather scowls. “Haven’t you seen the way he acts around Velvet?” his tail flicks. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he takes off with her before the moon is up.”

Lionblaze’s surprise is almost palpable. “Alderheart and Velvet?” he echoes, as if he honest to StarClan hadn’t seen it himself.

“ _ Yeah. _ ” Jayfeather sniffs. “Why don’t you watch them a bit when we get back? I’m not overreacting.” His shoulders hunch forward miserably. “I’ve been trying to keep them apart, but if Dovewing’s anything to go by, that’s not going to do anything.”

“Well,” Lionblaze says awkwardly. A few moments drag by before he evidently figures out what to say. “Alderheart isn’t Dovewing, you know that. You can’t assume you know what he’s going to do.” He nudges Jayfeather’s shoulder lightly. “Have you talked to him about it? I’m sure he’d listen.”

“No,” Jayfeather admits. He hadn’t wanted to explicitly say anything. He’s sure Alderheart must’ve gotten the hint by now, but neither of them has spoken of it out loud.

“Maybe give that a try before you keep assuming the worst,” Lionblaze suggests gently.

“I know.” Jayfeather shifts uncomfortably. Maybe he can get Leafpool to talk to him about it? After all, she’s the one with the firsthand experience; he’s sure _she_ could dissuade him from pursuing anything with the kittypet. But that would involve Jayfeather actually talking to Leafpool about _that_ , and, well, they’d _just_ _finally_ gotten past it. He doesn’t see himself approaching Leafpool about something like that anytime soon. Or ever.

“That’s not it though, is it?” Lionblaze guesses. “Don’t deny it,” he interrupts when Jayfeather makes to speak. “There’s something behind all of this, isn’t there?”

Jayfeather lets out a defeated sigh. Fine, Lionblaze wins. “I just… First there was Hollyleaf, and now Dovewing, Briarlight, and Alderheart next?” he shakes his head. “After all we’ve done for StarClan, it doesn’t seem very fair.” Not to mention, Fuzzball will be leaving soon, but Jayfeather will  _ die  _ before he admits to getting attached to the annoyingly chipper kittypet.

He hates going to sleep every night wondering,  _ who’s next? _

“You’re right.” To Jayfeather’s surprise, Lionblaze agrees. “It’s  _ not  _ fair.”

Jayfeather snorts humorlessly. “You’re not going to lecture me about being pessimistic?”

“No. We’re  _ grieving,  _ not  _ wallowing,”  _ Lionblaze corrects. His lighthearted inflection grows more solemn. “It helps to know that they must be happy, wherever they are, but… I know what you mean. It isn’t fair.” He nudges Jayfeather again. “But we still have each other. And I have Cinderheart and my kits, and you have Alderheart and Leafpool. As long as we all still have each other, we’ll be okay.”

Jayfeather rolls his eyes, unwillingly fond. “Quit trying so hard to be profound.”

Lionblaze snickers. “Oh right, I forgot,  _ you’re  _ supposed to be the profound one.” He flicks Jayfeather’s ear with his tail, then laughs louder when Jayfeather ducks away from him indignantly.

“Come on,” Jayfeather grouses, “I really do have to get that watermint.”

“Alright, alright.” The two walk together in companionable silence for a while before Lionblaze says anything else. “I hoped it helped a little, just to get it off your chest. You know you don’t have to shoulder these things alone. It’s not like I can fix anything but… Talking helps.”

Jayfeather doesn’t want to admit it, but he  _ does  _ feel a little better. Less angry and spiteful, anyway. It still hurts terribly, thinking about all he’d lost, but… it does feel better.

He won’t admit that Lionblaze was right, though.

**Author's Note:**

> I have more ideas for one-shots like this because I just love these characters and hate that they haven't been expanded upon in the latest series.
> 
> It was a little messy, and for that I apologize, but please let me know what you thought! Validation and criticism are my lifeblood.


End file.
